Before the Golden State Warriors traded D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New York Knicks reached out to the Warriors about the guard.
One trade package the Knicks put together included big Bobby Portis and guards Allonzo Trier and Frank Ntilikina, according to SNY.tv’s Ian Begley.
It was unclear from the article what draft picks, if any, were part of that specific package. Begley wrote that the Knicks were “comfortable” including draft capital in a trade for Russell.
The willingness to include draft picks was a change of philosophy from previous team presidents.
“Under former team presidents Phil Jackson and (Steve) Mills, the Knicks had been strongly opposed to dealing future first-round picks. This was a reasonable stance to take for an organization that had been burned so often by trading first-rounders in the past.
But before the 2020 deadline, that approach changed. The Knicks were comfortable including future first-round picks in deals for Russell and Charlotte’s Terry Rozier.”
Without knowing if any picks were attached it’s impossible to say if this trade would have been a better alternative to the Timberwolves deal, but the players alone who Begley mentioned wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense for the roster.
Trier was impressive as an undrafted rookie, but this season he missed time with injuries and was stuck behind guards including Ntilikina and Elfrid Payton on the depth chart.
Ntilikina showed some improvement this year, but he’s still an inefficient scorer whose passing isn’t good enough to overcome that.
Portis would be a plus on the Warriors, but not enough to merit trading a player of Russell’s caliber.
The Knicks control their future first-round picks, the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2020 first-rounder from the Marcus Morris trade and the Dallas Mavericks’ 2021 and 2023 picks from the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
Instead of dealing Russell the Knicks, Golden State traded him to Minnesota in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, a protected 2021 first-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick.
